Saddle



July 5, 1966 s. w. HOAGLIN SADDLE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 2, 1963 I N VE N TOR. .irin-w M62464 m July 5, 1966 s. w. HOAGLIN SADDLE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed D60. 2, 1965 INVENTOR.

BY m WWW Afro/2mm? United States Patent 3,258,894 SADDLE Steven W. Hoaglin, Alamo, Califi, assignor to J. V. Le Laurin, Jr., La Mesa, Calif. Filed Dec. 2, 1963, Ser. No. 327,445 2 Claims. (Cl. 5444) This invention relates to saddles, and more particularly to a unitary saddle construction combining the tree and groundseat into a single lightweight unit of unusual strength and low cost.

In the past, western saddles have customarily been constructed from a wooden saddle tree forming a frame consisting of the fork and the cantle connected by a pair of spaced side bars. This assembly was usually covered with rawhide. The opening in the center of this frame was then covered with a thick leather groundseat attached to the frame and forming the yieldable seat portion of the saddle. The complexity of this wooden construction, and the strength properties required of it, made the conventional saddle quite heavy. At the same time, its parts had to be hand-shaped, thereby entailing considerable manufacturing cost and preventing machine production of the leather parts to an accurate fit. Proposals have been made to construct a saddle tree of hollow cast metal in order to obtain light weight and rigidity. This expedient, however, was also unsatisfactory because the metal casting was not sufficiently yieldable to provide proper comfort for both the rider and the horse.

The present invention solves these problems by providing a saddle in which the tree and the groundseat are formed as a single unit consisting of a glass fiber-reinforced resin shell filled with rigid plastic foam. This construction is sufficiently rigid to give the saddle the required structural strength, and yet it is sufficiently yieldable under impact stresses to provide adequate riding comfort without requiring any special yieldable accessories. At the same time, the unitary construction of the saddle lends it unusual strength and therefore permits its manufacture in a size not heretofore possible. In addition, the inventive construction is inherently of very light weight and lends itself to mechanized manufacturing procedures which greatly reduce its cost.

It is therefore the primary object of this invention to provide a lightweight, unitary, rigid and strong saddle tree construction which is nevertheless sufficiently yieldable to assure ridiing comfort without the aid of additional resilience devices.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a saddle construction in which a combination saddle tree and groundseat is formed of a glass fiber-reinforced resin shell filled with rigid plastic foam.

It is still another object of this invention to provide a saddle construction which permits the fork height to be reduced and the gullet height to be increased so as to provide improved leverage for roping.

These and other advantages of this invention will become apparent from the following specification, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective of a saddle constructed according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal, vertical cross section of the saddle of this invention at its center;

FIG. 3 is a transverse vertical cross section along line 33 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a transverse vertical cross section along line 4-4 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a transverse vertical cross section along line 5-5 of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 6 is a detail section along line 66 of FIG. 2 showing the method of attachment of accessories such as the cinch rigging ring.

Basically, the inventive concept consists in forming both the saddle tree and the groundseat as a single unit from a molded shell of yieldable glass fiber-reinforced resin and then filling the interior of the shell with rigid (but also yieldable) polyurethane foam. This construction gives the saddle sufficient rigidity to permit a substantial reduction of the cross section of the fork which heretofore was the principal structural member of the saddle. As a result, it is possible to reduce the fork height and increase the gullet height, and to thus reduce the tilting moment exerted on the saddle by the pull of a rope on the horn during roping operations. At the same time, the shell-and-foam construction, though rigid enough to maintain its shape under static loading conditions, is suffici-ently yieldable under the dynamic impact loads occurring in motion to flex or give slightly during riding, particularly at the relatively thin portion or arch running longitudinally along the center of the saddle. This construction therefore makes it unnecessary to provide any resilient pads between the saddle and the horse other than conventional leather skirts lined with woolskin. The inventive construction also makes it unnecessary to cover the seat portion of the saddle with a thickness of leather greater than the minimum necessary to provide adequate friction to prevent the rider from sliding off the saddle.

In accordance with the foregoing, the expression rigid but yieldable has been used in this case to signify the characteristic of being sufficiently hard to resist compressional deformation under the influence of normal static loads, and yet sufliciently resilient to yield enough under impact stresses to resiliently absorb impact stresses of such magnitude as would otherwise injure or unduly fatigue the horse or the rider.

Referring now to the drawings, FIG. 1 shows the saddle of this invention generally at 10. The saddle 10 has a central seat portion 12 formed integrally with the cantle 14- and fork 16. The cantle 14 may be of any desired shape, it being shown in this instance with a Cheyenne roll. Rigging rings 18 and decorative accessories such as the skirt pockets 20 and seat jockeys 22 are provided as necessary or desired. Appropriate means, discussed in more detail hereinbelow, are provided for attaching the stirrups 24, and a grip hole 26 is provided for easy handling of the saddle. The horn 28 may be made of cast aluminum and may be provided with a leather covering if desired.

Turning now to FIG. 2, it will be noted that the horn 28 is bonded at 30 to the neck 32 formed as part of the shell 34. The shell 34 is preferably molded by any convenient technique from two half shells 36, 38 joined along a bonded seam 40.

If desired, a tunnel 42 may be provided within the shell 34 to receive the stirrup leather which may be held in place by a bolt 44. On the other hand, the tunnel 42 may be omitted if separate swivel mountings for each stirrup are to be provided in the recesses 37, 39.

In order to provide maximum strength at the'fork where the maximum strain during roping occurs, the shell 34 may be made considerably thicker at the neck and down to the swell 45, 47 than in the rest of the saddle. As a matter of example, the shell may be A" thick at the neck as compared to at the remainder of the saddle. However, the construction of this invention, because of its greater rigidity than the conventional wood construction, permits the fork height 41 to be reduced and the gullet height 43 to be increased as compared to a conventional saddle, so as to provide better leverage for roping.

When the two half shells 36 and 38 have been bonded together along the seam 40, a mixture of polyurethane and foaming agent may be introduced into the cavity defined by the shell 34 through, for example, the neck 32 and appropriate injection openings 46 in each of the side bars 48, 50 connected by the arch 49, under the cantle board. Appropriate vent openings 52 will, of course, have to be provided at places determined by the manufacturing process and jigs to allow the escape of air entrapped within the shell 34.

When the foaming process has been completed and the polyurethane foam 51 has hardened, the horn 28 is then also bonded to the neck 32, and the saddle tree is complete. The seat portion 12 including the roll 14 may now be covered with a thin covering 53 of chap leather (shown in dot-dash lines), both for decorative purposes and to provide friction for the otherwise very slippery surface of the shell 34, and the accessories such as the rigging rings 18, skirt pockets 2t), and seat jockeys 22 may be affixed. Bark tanned leather is preferably used for the covering of the saddle portions other than the seat portion 12, such as the skirt pockets 20 and the horn and neck. It should be noted that since the saddle tree is molded and is therefore of great dimensional accuracy, the leather parts used on it may all be machinestamped and still be assured of an accurate fit.

FIG. 6 shows a preferred method of attachment of the accessories, such as the rigging rings 18. The leather strap 56 which carries the rigging rings 18 is attached to both the upper half shell 36 and the lower half shell 38 by means of a rivet 58. At the place where the rivet 58 is to be inserted, an indentation 60 is formed in the lower half shell 38 so as to bring it against the upper half shell 36. The half shells 36, 38 therefore form an annular seal around the rivet hole, and they may be bonded together at that point. In this way, the rivet hole for rivet 58 can be formed without the risk of the polyurethane foam 51 escaping into the rivet hole, and the rivet 58 can be crimped into position without crushing the foam 51.

It will be seen that the present invention provides a saddle construction which is superior to presently known saddles in strength, weight and cost, and which is better suited for roping than the saddles presently known. Obviously, the invention is capable of being carried out in many embodiments, of which the one shown is merely illustrative. Therefore, I do not desire to be limited by the embodiment shown and described herein, but only by the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A saddle tree comprising a pair of shell members of glass fiber-reinforced resin forming a fork, cantle, side trees, and groundseat combined into a single unit, said unit having an interior cavity extending throughout substantially the entire extent of said unit, said cavity being filled with rigid polyurethane foam, and the groundseat portion of the upper of said pair of shell members being covered with a thin layer of leather bonded to said shell member. l

2. A saddle tree comprising a pair of shell members of glass fiber-reinforced resin forming a fork, cantle, side trees, and groundseat combined into a single unit, said unit having an interior cavity extending throughout substantially the entire extent of said unit, said cavity being filled with a rigid plastic foam, and the groundseat portion of the upper of said pair of shell members being covered with a thin layer of leather bonded to said shell member.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,462,885 7/1923 Hawkins 54-44 2,153,326 4/1939 Crouter 54-46 3,047,888 8/1962 Shecter et al 5--361 SAMUEL KOREN, Primary Examiner.

HUGH R. CHAMBLEE, Examiner. 

1. A STAGE AND SOUND PROJECTING SHELL OF THE GENERAL TYPE COMPRISING A TRAILER BODY HAVING ONE SIDE HINGED AT TREES, AND GROUNDSEAT COMBINED INTO A SINGLE UNIT, SAID UNIT HAVING AN INTERIOR CAVITY EXTENDING THROUGHOUT SUBSTANTIALLY THE ENTIRE EXTENT OF SAID UNIT, SAID CAVITY BEING FILLED WITH A RIGID PLASTIC FOAM, AND THE GROUNDSEAT PORTION OF THE UPPER OF SAID PAIR OF SHELL MEMBERS BEING COVERED WITH A THIN LAYER OF LEATHER BONDED TO SAID SHELL MEMBER. 